CONGEESSIONAL  RECORD 


The  Fig-hting  Parson  of  the  Revolution,  Who  Was  a  Lutheran 
Minister,  Representative  in  Congress,  United  States  Senator, 
and  a  Major  General  in  the  American  Army 


SPEECH 

OP 

HON.  ALFRED  L.  BULWINKLE 

op  north  carolina 
In  the  House  of  Kepeesentatives 
Monday,  April  16,  1928 

Mr.  BULWINKLE.  Mr.  Speaker,  H.  J.  Res.  239,  the  resolu- 
tion now  under  consideration  before  the  House,  provides  that 
the  Peter  Muhlenberg  Memorial  Association,  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  shall  erect,  without  cost  to  the  United  States  Government, 
a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Gen.  Peter  Muhlenberg,  of  Revo- 
lutionary fame,  on  that  public  park  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  lying  between  Ellicott  Street,  Connecticut  Avenue,  and 
Thirty-sixth  Street  NW.,  under  the  approval  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee on  the  Library  and  the  Fine  Arts  Commission. 

America,  in  its  history,  has  produced  many  great  men,  and 
among  these  there  is  none  greater  than  the  lighting  parson  of 
the  Revolut  on,  who  was  a  Lutheran  pastor,  who  became  a 
major  general  in  the  American  Army,  a  Representative  in  Con- 
gress, a  United  States  Senator,  and  who  held  other  offices  of 
distinction  and  for  over  30  years  rendered  to  the  Nation  his 
best  service. 

The  monument  to  be  erected  shall  be  a  memorial  to  the 
memory  of  Johann  Peter  Gabriel  Muhlenberg,  who  was  born  on 
the  1st  day  of  October,  1746,  in  Trappe,  Montgomery  County. 
Pa.  His  father,  the  Rev.  Henry  Muhlenberg,  immigrated  to 
America  in  1742  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  establish  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  Amer'ca.  His  mother  was  Anna  Maria 
Weiser,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Conrad  Weiscr,  jr.,  the  celebrated 
Indian  agent  of  colonial  days.  In  1761  his  parents  moved  to 
Philadelphia  and  Peter  entered  an  academy,  where  he  studied 
for  some  time  under  a  Doctor  Smith.  In  the  early  part  of 
1763  he  and  his  two  brothers  were  sent  to  school  at  Halle, 
Germany,  to  study  for  the  ministry.  Peter  had  not  attended 
the  school  very  njng  Uerore  ne  left  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
one  of  his  teachers  had  insulted  him  and  he  had  knocked  him 
down.  Peter  did  not  wait  long  enough  to  be  expelled,  but  ran 
away  from  the  university  and  enlisted  in  a  German  regunent 
that  was  then  quartered  in  the  town  of  Halle.  How  long  he 
remained  as  a  soldier  in  the  German  Army  is  not  known,  but 
history  states  that  he  was  discharged  from  the  service  through 
the  efforts  of  a  British  officer  who  knew  his  father  in  Phila- 
delphia. After  being  discharged  from  the  German  Army  he 
engaged  for  a  short  time  in  the  mercantile  business  and  from 
that  he  returned  to  America,  studied  theology,  and  in  1768 
was  ordained  a  minister  in  the  Lutheran  Church. 

He  was  first  an  assistant  pastor  of  Zion  and  St.  Paul 
Lutheran  Churches  in  New  Gerniantown  and  Bedminster  in 
Hunterdon  and  Somerset  Counties,  N.  J.  The  year  follow- 
ing he  became  the  pastor  of  both  of  these  churches.  On 
November  6,  1770,  he  married  Anna  Barbara  Meyer,  of  Phila- 
delphia. Two  years  passed  and  then  he  received' a  call  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Lutheran  Church  at  Woodstock,  Va.  Under 
the  law  at  that  time  in  churches  of  the  Virginia  colony,  no  one 
save  an  ordained  minister  in  the  Church  of  England  could 
preach  in  the  colony,  and  in  order,  therefore,  to  accept  the  call, 
he  went  to  England  and  was  oidained  a  minister  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  at  the  Royal  Chapel  of  St.  James  on  the 
23d  of  April,  1772,  the  Bishop  of  London  officiating  at  the 
ordination  services.  A  month  later  he  left  London  and  arrived 
in  Philadelphia  during  the  month  of  July.  Then  he  returned 
to  the  valley  of  Virginia  and  entered  upon  his  duties  as  pastor 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  at  Woodstock.  He  soon  became  very 
popular,  not  only  with  members  of  his  own  congregation  but 
with  others  as  well. 

The  history  of  the  time  shows  that  Peter  Muhlenberg  was  a 
friend  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  and  acquainted  with  other  famous  -  Virginians  of  that 
period.  In  those  troublesome  days  Pastor  Muhlenberg  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  at  Woodstock  was  active  always  in  behalf  of 
the  patriots  in  the  trouble  then  brewing  with  the  Mother 
Country.  In  1774  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
safety  in  Dunmore  County  and  some  time  thereafter  was  ap- 
pointed a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses.  As  a 
member  of  the  convention  in  Virginia  in  March,  1775,  he  gave 
full  support  to  Patrick  Henry  and  the  other  patriots.  And 
when  Mr.  Henry,  after  his  famous  speech  of  "  Give  me  liberty 
99600 — 4298 


or  give  me  death,"  moved  that  the  colony  be  immediately  put 
in  a  state  of  defense,  Muhlenberg  seconded  the  motion. 

In  December,  1775,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  the  Virginia 
House  of  Delegates  providing  for  six  new  regiments  to  defend 
the  State.  George  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry  both  urged 
that  the  Lutheran  pastor  from  Woodstock  be  commissioned  the 
colonel  of  one  of  the  regiments.  A  short  time  thereafter  Muh- 
lenberg was  commissioned  the  colonel  of  the  Eighth  Virginia 
Regiment,  which  subsequently  became  the  famous  Gei-man 
regiment  of  the  Revolution.  He  immediately  returned  to  his 
home  to  recruit  and  organize  the  regiment.  A  few  days  later 
the  word  was  broadcasted  through  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
that  Pastor  Muhlenberg  would  speak  for  the  last  time  to  his 
congregation  on  the  following  Sunday.  The  last  Sunday  in 
January,  1775,  came  and  the  little  log  church  at  Woodstock 
was  o\ercrowded  with  people  from  the  surrounding  country 
who  had  come  to  hear  the  farewell  sermon  of  their  beloved 
pastdr.  The  young  minister  came  in,  ascended  the  pulpit,  and 
in  very  plain  and  simple  language  told  how  the  colonists  were 
being  wronged  and  mistreated  by  the  mother  country.  He  told 
of  their  sufferings  and  explained  to  them  why  he  considered  it 
his  duty  to  fight  for  the  colonists  and  against  the  English  Gov- 
ernment. Then  came  an  incident  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  America,  or  in  the  history  of  any  other  country :  There  was 
not  a  stir  in  the  church,  all  were  intent  upon  listening  to  what 
the  pastor  had  to  say.   Then  suddenly  he  said : 

111  tlie  language  of  Holy  Writ  there  is  a  time  for  all  things,  a  time 
to  pipach  and  a  time  to  pray;  but  there  is  also  a  time  to  fight,  and 
that  time  has  now  come. 

When  these  words  were  uttered  by  him  he  threw  off  his  robe 
and  stood  before  his  congregation  in  the  uniform  of  a  Virginia 
colonel.  Pronouncing  the  benediction,  he  descended  from  the 
pulpit  and  ordered  the  drums  to  beat  at  the  church  door  for 
recruits.    Three  hundred  men  enlisted  that  day  in  his  regiment. 

For  seven  years  Muhlenberg  served  as  an  officer  in  the  Ameri- 
can forces,  rising  in  rank  from  that  of  colonel  to  brigadier  gen- 
eral, and  subsequently  to  major  general.  He  and  the  troops 
under  his  command  were  in  the  campaigns  and  fought  numer- 
ous battles  in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  South 
Carolina.  The  military  experience  which  he  received  in  Ger- 
many caused  him  to  be  selected  by  Baron  Von  Steuben  to  aid 
in  the  creation  of  a  disciplined  and  organized  American  Army. 
After  a  battle  on  April  25,  1781,  Baron  Von  Steuben  wrote  to 
the  Continental  Congress  commending  the  valor  and  the  courage 
of  General  Muhlenberg.  In  the  last  fight  at  Yorktown  the  Vir- 
ginia P.rlgade  was  commanded  by  Muhlenberg.  Washington, 
Lafayette.  Von  Steuben,  and  other  military  men  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  recognized  the  ability  of  General  Muhlenberg 
as  a  soldier  and  repeatedly  commended  him  for  his  services  to 
the  Colonies.  Thus  for  seven  years  the  pastor  from  Woodstock 
gave  his  best  service  in  time  of  war  to  the  Colonies  and  helped 
to  lay  tlie  .ground  plan  for  the  American  Nation. 

General  Muhlenberg  though  he  received  a  call  from  his  old 
congregation  at  AVoodstock  to  become  its  pastor  again  did  not 
accept.  And  during  the  R'iuter  of  1783  lie  removed  to  Phila- 
delphia and  lived  with  his  father.  He  was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  became  vice  president 
of  the  common  council  of  which  Franklin  was  the  president. 
He  held  this  office  for  two  years  and  then  he  and  his  brother, 
Frederick  Muhlenberg,  both  being  members  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  in  Pennsylvania,  used  their  full  influence  for  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  it  was 
to  a  great  extent  through  the  influence  of  these  two  brothers 
that  Pennsylvania  ratified  the  Federal  Constitution. 

In  17!tS,  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  he  and  his 
brother.  Frederick,  were  both  elected  Members  of  the  First 
Congress  from  Pennsylvania.  Frederick  Mulilenberg  was  elected 
in  the  !''irst  Congress  by  the  House  the  first  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  In  1793  and  1795  Peter  was  again 
elected  a  Representative  in  Congi'ess,  and  in  1799  was  reelected 
to  the  House.  In  1801  he  was  elected  United  States  Senator 
from  Pennsylvania  but  resigned  in  1802.  In  1802  President 
Jefferson  appointed  him  collector  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia  and 
he  served  in  this  capacity  until  October  1,  1807,  when'Sae  died. 
His  death  was  on  the  sixty-first  anniversary  of  his  birth,  and 
his  remains  were  conveyetl  to  Trappe  and  interred  in  tlie 
Lutheran  burying  gTound  by  the  side  of  the  grave  of  his  father. 

This,  in  short,  Mr.  Speaker,  is  an  account  of  the  life  of  one 
of  America's  great  men.  Though  his  services  as  a  soldier  in 
time  of  war  were  great,  yet  his  services  in  civil  life  preceding 
the  war  and  as  an  official  of  the  Federal  Government  after  the 
war  were  equally  as  great.  And  in  my  opinion,  sir,  the  appre- 
ciation of  Congress  should  be  given  to  the  Peter  Muhlenberg 
Memorial  Association  for  the  idea  of  erecting  here,  in  the  Capi- 
tal of  tiie  Nation,  a  fitting  monument  to  serve  as  a  memorial  to 
one  of  the  men  who  helped  to  found  this  Republic. 

D.S.  GOVEBNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICH  :  192S 


♦ 


